Babylon Rogues
*Wave the Swallow *Storm the Albatross *Jet's father *Wave's father *Stolen |nicknames = Team Babylon |alignment = Neutral |status = Active |headquarters = Babylon Rogues' ship |equipment/weapons = *Extreme Gear *Wave's gadgets *Bashōsen *Ark of the Cosmos |allies = Team Sonic (occasionally) |enemies = *Team Dark *Team Rose *Eggman Empire *Babylon Guardian *SCR-HD }} The are a group that appears in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series. They are a legendary band of thieves who have existed since ancient times,Sonic Team, Sonic Team USA (17 March 2006). Sonic Riders. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/Level: Splash Canyon. "Tails: Yes; the mark of the Babylon Rogues. A long time ago, there was a floating island known as Babylon Garden. Supposedly, robbers lived there. According to rumors... this "legendary" band, the Babylon Rogues, were great thieves. Legend also says that the Babylon Rogues incurred the wrath of the Gods because of their crimes, and that the island was cast into the depths of the Earth. After that, supposedly the Babylonians were then scattered for all time, never to be found. But they say that the Babylon Rogue's treasure still remains on that island, waiting to be discovered. There are also rumors that the Babylon Rogues were Extreme Gear specialists." with the mantle of the group being inherited from one generation to the next. Each member is a descendant of the ancient Babylonians, an alien race of genie-like beings that got stranded on earth in ages past.Sonic Team (21 February 2006) Sonic Riders. Gamecube. Sega. Level/Area: Digital Dimension. "Jet: I never imagined we Babylonians could be descendants of real genies." In the present day, the Babylon Rogues consist of Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross. In addition to being a talent and professional group of present-day thieves,Sonic Riders (Nintendo GameCube) United States instruction booklet, pg. 7. this trio is acclaimed world-wide for their Extreme Gear skills. They also share an ongoing feud with Team Sonic. History Past According to legend, the Babylon Rogues were a band of technologically advanced thieves known as the Babylonians.Sonic Team, Sonic Team USA (17 March 2006). Sonic Riders. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/Level: Splash Canyon. "Dr. Eggman: Can you believe the REAL treasure is the ancient, but advanced technology of the Babylonians? What irony! I've found a story about a boy who received an Angel Wing from the Babylonians as a gift. The story says that with it, the boy was able to rule the world. And this was just a gift! I'm anxious to find this technology as soon as possible. Imagine the vast possibilities of the technology they must have kept for themselves. Hehehehehe!" The Babylonians themselves were a group of genie-like aliens who got stranded on earth in the ancient past when they were forced to disconnect the engine units called the Arks of the Cosmos, which were advanced stones capable of harnessing the power of a black hole, from the warp drive of their spaceship, the Babylon Garden, and send them into orbit around earth in order to keep their ship from generating a black hole.Sonic Team, CRI Middleware (22 February 2008). Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/level: Ending sequence. "Tails: They crash landed on this planet in ancient past... They disconnected the units... / Amy: And left it in orbit hoping that some day it would fall back down to the surface. Every time they saw a shooting star... / Sonic: I bet they’d wished they could get back to their home planet. / Amy: Maybe that’s why people started wishing on shooting stars."Sonic Team, CRI Middleware (22 February 2008). Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. PlayStation 2. Sega. "Wave: ...We’ve reached our decision. We must sever the engine unit from this vessel. For if we delay, the contraction of the engine core will lead the lightless black to consume everything." Whether the Babylon Rogues were formed before or after the Babylonians landed on earth is unknown, however. On earth, the Babylon Rogues became a legendary band of great thieves. They made their home on Babylon Garden, which was made into a floating island that could fly across the sky. During the time of Stolen, the thirteenth leader of the Babylon Rogues, the Babylonians invented the Magic Carpet, which was an early prototype of the first Extreme Gear.Sonic Team, Sonic Team USA (17 March 2006). Sonic Riders. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/Level: Babylon Guardian. "Dr. Eggman: Let's see... Ah, this looks interesting. "At long last, we've completed our ultimate invention. With this, our lives will be easier, without the need to work so hard to keep ourselves flying. Stolen, the 13th leader of the Babylon Rouges..."Sonic Team, Sonic Team USA (17 March 2006). Sonic Riders. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/Level: Babylon Guardian. "Tails: Hmm, what's this? / Wave: Good eyes. Didn't think you'd spot it for a second, shorty. But you did. / Sonic: Hey, what're you talking about? / Wave: This, isn't just a piece of fabric. / Tails: Right. Take a look at the material; it's the same stuff we use for OUR Extreme Gear! / Jet: You don't say. / Sonic: Oh, it's... / Wave: Not sure, but maybe it's a prototype Gear. / Sonic: A magic carpet? I thought that those only existed in fiction." This piece of technology was invented to allow the Babylon Rogues to travel all over the world to gather treasure.Sonic Team, Sonic Team USA (17 March 2006). Sonic Riders. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/Level: Ending sequence. "Jet: Yeah. The back of the carpet has more words of wisdom. It says, "This was invented to allow Babylonians to travel all over the world to gather treasure." Some things never change, huh?" After that, the Babylon Rogues would become specialists in the art of Extreme Gear. In spite of having settled on earth, the Babylonians still yearned to return to their home planet. Due to having left the engine units for the Babylon Garden in orbit however, all they could do was wait for them to fall down to the surface so they could use them to relaunch Babylon Garden into space.Sonic Team, CRI Middleware (22 February 2008). Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/level: Gigan Rocks. "Knuckles: ...The divine wings, straddler of stars, lose their plumes to the dark and fall to the ground. The plumes become as stars, returning to this land. We, the children of Babylon... / … / Knuckles: We, the children of Babylon, seal one star here, and another within the great scar, formed in heaven’s fall, until the time of the divine wings' rising." As such, whenever the Babylonians saw a shooting star, they would wish to go back to their home planet. Amy theorized that the Babylonians may have developed the tradition of wishing on shooting stars, believing that they would have looked to the night sky for the falling Arks of the Cosmos to return. Eventually recovering two Arks of the Cosmos, the Babylonians would seal one away in Gigan Rocks and the other in the Crimson Crater until it was time to relaunch Babylon Garden. According to legend, the Babylon Rogues eventually incurred the wrath of the Gods because of their crimes. As punishment, Babylon Garden was cast into the depths of the earth, leaving it buried underneath Sand Ruins. After that, the Babylonians were supposedly scattered for all time. Despite this, a clan of Babylonians called the Babylon clan persisted.Sonic Team, CRI Middleware (22 February 2008). Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/Level: MeteorTech Premises. "Jet: They aren't just some rocks. They're spoken of in Babylon clan legend as..." This clan continued their thieving ways as the Babylon Rogues for generations to come, with the Key to Babylon Garden, a relic from the Ancient Babylonians which could return Babylon Garden to the skies, being passed down along with them. However, the Babylon Rogues' knowledge about their alien origins and achievements were slowly forgotten over time. Eventually, all the Babylon Rogues had left were the Key to Babylon Garden and misunderstood legends about Babylon Garden, the treasures it supposedly held, and their scattered relics. One of these legends in particular told that ancient Babylonians left a hidden treasure behind in Babylon Garden.Sonic Team, Sonic Team USA (17 March 2006). Sonic Riders. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/Level: Opening sequence (Babylon). "Storm: I wonder... Could it be true? Could our ancestors have left behind hidden treasure that's just waiting to be discovered?" Not too long ago, there was a group of Babylon Rogues whose members included Jet's father and Wave's father.Sonic Team, Sonic Team USA (17 March 2006). Sonic Riders. PlayStation 2. Sega. Area/Level: Opening sequence (Babylon). "Storm: Storm: What's this? Oh, is this...? / Jet: Yeah. That's when I took over things for my father." This group was eventually superseded by the current generation of Babylon Rogues: Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow and Storm the Albatross. Jet himself took over as leader of the team and received the Key to Babylon Garden from his father. In time, these Babylon Rogues became a talented group of professional thieves and gained world-wide acclaim for their Extreme Gear riding skills.Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii) United Kingdom instruction booklet, pg. 5. Jet's revered skills as an Extreme Gear rider in particular earned him an impressive reputation, leading him to become known as the "Legendary Wind Master". ''Sonic Riders'' series ''Sonic Riders'' In Sonic Riders, the Babylon Rogues met Dr. Eggman onboard their ship. After Eggman gave Jet info on how to use the Key to Babylon Garden, the group teamed up with him to get the Tresure of Babylon, which Eggman convinced them was a valuable gem. Jet, Wave and Storm thus undertook the task of gathering the seven Chaos Emeralds needed to activate the Key to Babylon Garden. In order to gather the Emeralds, Eggman hosted the EX World Grand Prix. To register for this competition, the contestants just had to pay an entry feed of one Chaos Emerald, and the winner got to claim them all. All the Babylon Rogues had to do was win this competition. The Babylon Rogues soon stole a Chaos Emerald in Future City. During their escape from the police, they ran across Team Sonic. Although Knuckles got to clobber Storm and Sonic chased after Jet, the Babylon Rogues escaped. After the Babylon Rouges joined the World Grand Prix, Wave secretly put a bomb on Sonic's Blue Star while taking a look at it. She also took the opportunity to diss Tails. Storm later met Knuckles. Holding a grudge at each other, the two decided to settle it on the track. In the end, Knuckles eliminated Storm from the competition. Later, the Babylon Rogues reunited onboard their ship. There, Jet revealed that he suspected that Eggman was hiding something. As such, he sent Storm out to find out what he could. While Wave and Jet awaited Storm, Jet snuck away to taunt Sonic while he was practicing his Extreme Gear techniques. Soon after, Wave got eliminated from the Grand Prix when she lost to Tails. When Storm later showed up with Eggman's diary, the Babylon Rogues learned that Eggman had deceived them: the Treasure of Babylon was not a gem, but the Babylonians' technology, which he planned to use to conquer the world. Jet wanted to back out since he had no interest in Eggman's plan, but Wave convinced him that there was still profit to gain from the treasure. As such, Jet took part in the finals. When Jet stood to lose to Sonic though, Wave detonated her bomb on Sonic's Blue Star, thus allowing Jet to sweep in and claim victory. Having earned the seven Chaos Emeralds, Jet used them in tandem with the Key to Babylon Garden, thus making Babylon Garden rise up from Sand Ruins. While Jet was distracted though, Eggman took the key and headed to Babylon Garden himself to steal the treasure. The Babylon Rogues pursued Eggman to Babylon Garden and eventually went after him on their Extreme Gears. While Jet ended up racing Sonic to Eggman's location, Wave and Storm were forced to escape Eggman's robots after running into Tails and Knuckles. In the end, Jet lost to Sonic, who gave the key back to Jet. When Jet refused Sonic's pity, Wave took the key on behalf of the Babylon Rogues, which Jet begrudgingly went along with. After the Babylon Rogues entered the treasury however, they were attacked by the Babylon Guardian. With the aid of Team Sonic and Amy though, the group managed to defeat the guardian and reveal the Treasure of Babylon, which turned out to be a Magic Carpet, much to the disappointment of Eggman when he arrived to steal it. Regardless, the Babylon Rogues and Team Sonic were fascinated by this advanced piece of fabric, which made Jet conclude that the Babylon Rogues were descendents of genies. With the whole ordeal over and with their rivalry more friendly, Team Sonic and the Babylon Rogues parted ways, but promised to meet again to settle their score. ''Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity'' In Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, a few months after the EX World Grand Prix,Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (Wii) United Kingdom instruction booklet, pg. 3. the Babylon Rogues had arrived at Gigan Rocks to procure an Ark of the Cosmos. Deactivating the trap protecting it, Jet managed to snag it from its pedestal. However, just as Jet and Wave wished upon a shooting star, the trap was activated when a meteorite crashed nearby. Fortunately, the Babylon Rogues were saved when Jet accidently triggered the Ark of the Cosmos's gravity manipulating power. With it, Jet realized he now had the power to beat Sonic. Onboard the Babylon Rogues' ship, Wave confirmed to Jet what the Arks of the Cosmos were and that there were five of them, each attracted to one another. Just as Jet issued Wave to make a radar for finding them though, Storm arrive with a news rapport that revealed that an Ark of the Cosmos at an exhibit had been stolen by a SCR-GP. As such, the Babylon Rogues headed out to get the Ark of the Cosmos. When they found the SCR-GP with the Ark of the Cosmos, however, Jet made it crash into a botanic garden. There, the Ark of the Cosmos was found by Amy, who ended up bringing it to Team Sonic. After seeing the Ark of the Cosmos fall into the hands of Team Sonic, the Babylon Rouges decided to circle on ahead and gather information after overhearing that Team Sonic were heading to MeteorTech. Eventually arriving at MeteorTech themselves, the Babylon Rogues dispatched some robots as they made their appearance to Team Sonic. Just as Jet demanded the Ark of the Cosmos from Amy so he could settle his score with Sonic, more robots arrived. Deeming this place unsafe, Team Sonic departed, prompting Jet and Wave to follow them. Storm, on the other hand, chased after Amy to get her Ark of the Cosmos. Learning along the way that Sonic had an Ark of the Cosmos too, Jet and Wave arrived in MeteorTech's control room. There, they found Dr. Eggman, the owner of MeteorTech. He revealed that MeteorTech's mother computer held an Ark of the Cosmos too, and that a robot called SCR-HD, who also held an Ark of the Cosmos, was using the world's robots to collect the Arks of the Cosmos for an unknown purpose. Just as Jet saw this as a result of the attraction between the Arks of the Cosmos, the group discovered that Storm and Amy were elsewhere. In the meantime, Storm got Amy's Ark of the Cosmos, as well as the one SCR-HD was carrying after the robot cornered them and blew up. As the Babylon Rogues regathered onboard their ship, Storm brought the Arks of the Cosmos to Jet. Then, just as Wave revealed a peculiar piece of info about a "lightless black" related to the Arks of the Cosmos in the Babylonian scrolls, Eggman came and stole the two Arks of the Cosmos Storm had just brought. The Babylon Rogues pursued Eggman to Crimson Tower, where they met Team Sonic and Amy. After they told what Eggman had done, Team Sonic concluded that Eggman planned to use the Arks of the Cosmos to control all the world's robots for world domination. The Babylon Rogues subsequently faced Team Sonic in a race to Eggman, with the right to all of the Arks of the Cosmos being at stake. Ultimately, the race ended in a draw between Jet and Sonic, who stopped Eggman and the global robot rampage. Then, after Babylon Garden appeared due to all the Arks of the Cosmos being present, Sonic gave his Arks of the Cosmos to Jet and prepared to take his leave. As the Babylon Rouges prepared to go to Babylon Garden however, SCR-HD appeared and took all five Arks of the Cosmos to Babylon Garden, which transformed it into Astral Babylon and made it form a black hole that threatened to consume the planet. The Babylon Rogues and Team Sonic thus headed to Astral Babylon to disconnect the ship's engine and stop the black hole. There, they faced and defeated Master Core: ABIS, thus saving the world. Afterward, Wave asked Jet if he was okay with all of. In response, Jet said that though he would miss space, there was more for him on earth. As such, the Babylon Rogues left Astral Garden in orbit around the planet while they resumed their old ways. ''Sonic Free Riders'' .]] In ''Sonic Free Riders, the Babylon Rouges entered the second World Grand Prix hosted by a disguised Dr. Eggman as "Team Babylon" solely for the purpose of obtaining glory. Jet, however, was mostly motivated by his inevitable showdown with Sonic, who was in the Grand Prix too. As the team got interviewed, the members expressed great confidence. In the first round, Team Babylon went up against Team Dark. As Team Babylon took the lead, sparks began to fly between the two teams in spite of the respect Jet and Storm showed their opponents. In the end though, Team Babylon beat Team Dark and advanced to the next round, where they stood to face Team Rose. Between the races, Team Babylon would mock their opponents. After more victories, Team Babylon beat Team Rose. Having made it to the finals, Team Babylon found themselves squaring off against Team Heroes, much to the satisfaction of Team Babylon's members, who looked forward to facing their respective rivals. When the time came for the final race though, Jet suspected that Wave had been sabotaging Team Geroes' Extreme Gear. After Team Babylon claimed their decisive victory over Team Heroes however, it seemed as if Team Heroes' had trouble with their Extreme Gear. Suspecting that his teammates had something to do with this, Jet demanded a rematch with Sonic in order to prove that he did not need dirty tricks to win, which was approved. After beating Team Heroes yet again, Team Babylon were declared champions. In addition, they looked forward to their next encounter with Team Heroes. During the extra rounds, Team Babylon had their own fair share of loses too. At the end of the tournament, Team Babylon and the other teams came to the awards ceremony to collect their prizes, but Eggman made them have a final race against his "ultimate Gear-Jockey robot." After the race, Eggman revealed he had used the Grand Prix to collect everyone's racing data with his E-10000 robots to create the ultimate Extreme Gear for him to use. Eggman subsequently challenged Team Babylon and the others to a race. After the teams beat Eggman, Metal Sonic revealed himself as the one controlling E-10000B, and it was discovered that Metal Sonic had given Eggman fake data so he could use the real data to beat Sonic in Extreme Gear riding. After Sonic defeated Metal Sonic in a race though, it was revealed that Eggman never had a prize to give out. While Storm and Wave were upset about this turn of events, Jet admitted he had a fun time competing. Other game appearances ''Sonic and the Secret Rings'' In Sonic and the Secret Rings, the Babylon Rogues appear in the game's gallery. ''Sonic Rivals'' series The three Babylon Rogues also make a cameo appearance in the Sonic Rivals series, each as their own respective collectible cards. In other media Archie Comics In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Babylon Rogues were originally deserters from the Battle Bird Armada. At one point, Predator Hawk was among their ranks, but he left to join Mammoth Mogul. The Babylon Rogues would eventually make themselves known to the Freedom Fighters where they would attack Sonic and attempt to seize a Sol Emerald. During their search for Babylon Garden, the Rogues were forced to join the Battle Bird Armada again, but they managed to escape when Babylon Garden was destroyed. After the timeline was rebooted by the Super Genesis Wave, the Babylon Rogues' history became almost identical to their game counterparts. IDW Publishing In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing, the Babylon Rogues are treasure hunting thieves. In this media, their backstory is identical to their game counterparts', up until after the events of Sonic Forces. Theme songs *"Catch Me If You Can" (Sonic Riders) *"Catch Me If You Can" (remix) (Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity) Reception While the characters got positive reviews from fans, they got mixed reviews from game journalists. IGN said Jet's voice is annoying in Sonic Free Riders. GamesRadar praised their appearance, which they called "edgy-cute-looking." Trivia *All the Babylon Rogues have blue eyes. *All the Babylon Rogues have flame-like tattoos on their forearms. *Oddly, all the Babylon Rogues have visible, triangular nostrils in their artwork for Sonic Riders. Their models in said game, lack nostrils, however, as do all subsequent models and artwork. References Category:Sonic the Hedgehog characters Category:Organizations in video games Category:Fictional birds of prey Category:Fictional professional thieves Category:Fictional organized crime groups